


Chasing A Happily Ever After

by JustAnotherFan05



Series: One Shots: A Pepperony Collection [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Iron Man - Freeform, Married Life, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Parent Pepper Potts, Parent Tony Stark, Pepperony - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 06:38:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15600495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAnotherFan05/pseuds/JustAnotherFan05
Summary: A year after defeating the titan God, Thanos, Tony Stark and Pepper Potts take a moment to talk about what they want in their future together - from new business ventures to life altering decisions, one thing is for sure: it's finally time to start chasing a happily ever after.





	Chasing A Happily Ever After

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you for your interest in reading one of my very first stories here on AO3. I have been writing fanfiction for a long time now, but I have never posted anything on any official fanfiction website (until now). I am very excited to see what you all think, and I would really appreciate any supportive comments or constructive criticism for future stories (please, let's try to keep the fanfiction community positive)! 
> 
> This particular story is a short one shot that will become part of a series in which I will post multiple different Pepperony one shots, whether they be related to one another or not. If you have any requests, let me know and I'll see what I can write up!
> 
> Thank you again and I hope you enjoy!

Believe it or not, but over ten years after Tony Stark became Iron Man, the genius billionaire was ready to settle down into a somewhat normal life. In fact, after a decade of fighting bad guys from inside a tin can, the superhero _wanted_ to settle down, and there’s only one person he would ever consider settling down with – Pepper Potts.

The two have known one another for well over twenty years, and through it all, they’ve been dancing around each other like ballerinas on thin ice, both afraid to either accept their own feelings or admit their own feelings toward the other. It took them ten years before they could share their affections toward each other, and another eight years before Tony proposed. And finally, when the dust settled after the final battle with the great titan, Thanos, Tony was ready to hang up the suit and start living the life he and Pepper deserved.

One month after Tony returned from space and the Avengers defeated Thanos, bringing everyone back from the ashes they became, Tony and Pepper got married in a small ceremony with only their closest friends. It was less than a surprise to Pepper to watch Tony boast about their marriage and how he could now call Pepper his ‘wife’, but it shocked everyone else in the world to see the former playboy walk around with his chest puffed out and his head held high, showing everyone his new shiny silver wedding ring and making sure everyone knew he was a married man.

After their first wedding anniversary, Tony and Pepper sat down in their New York home to talk about their plans for their future. It was a long delayed discussion, but one Pepper finally convinced Tony to sit down for.

“Alright, let’s start off with the easy stuff,” Pepper started, knowing she only had Tony’s full attention for no more than thirty minutes. “It’s been a year since you retired from the Avengers. And as much as I love you staying home all the time to reenergize, I know it’s driving you stir crazy.”

Tony nodded his head in agreement, knowing that staying at home and tinkering all day used to be his preferred lifestyle, but now, it was just getting boring. “It is.”

“So, what are your plans? Do you want to come back to Stark Industries?” Pepper asked him.

Immediately, Tony shook his head, looking at Pepper. “No,” he responded quickly. “As much as I love the company and as much as I admire the work you do there, I don’t want to go back into the… inventing business.”

“But you’re an inventor, Tony,” Pepper reminded him. “It’s what you do best.”

“Pepper,” Tony started, taking a long breath before continuing. “Ever since I was a boy, I’ve been inventing and tinkering… I’ve created good things like our arc reactor technology, but I’ve also created bad things like weapons and a suit of armor that killed _thousands_ , if not millions.”

“Tony…” Pepper sighed, knowing that this specific topic was one of her least favorites to bring up, especially since it brought so much pain and bad memories for them both.

“But that’s exactly why I don’t want to do it anymore,” Tony added. “I’ve had a lifetime of inventing and of being a genius,” he continued. “I think it would be… refreshing to start with something new.”

Pepper nodded her head in understanding. In fact, she appreciated his thought process of not wanting to be an inventor anymore because even though it might have saved a lot of people, it also came with the heavy burden of threatening a lot of people as well, including herself. “Alright, well if you’re not going back into inventing, what do you want to do?”

They sat in silence for a short moment as Tony’s mind wandered through the possible ideas he had for his new future career. It was hard to put his thumb down on a single thought, but then he realized that he’s been in the business of business for so long, the answer he was searching for came to him so naturally. “I think I want to try being a business investor.”

“Go on,” Pepper said, simply asking Tony to continue his explanation of this new, random dream career.

“A business investor,” Tony repeated. “I’ll use some of our personal assets from Stark Industries and invest in other, smaller businesses. I can create a new umbrella company that can manage all my investments, and I can help these companies grow using the knowledge I have from managing Stark Industries.”

“Tony, remember that you gave Stark Industries to _me_ to manage, solely because you didn’t like managing things…” Pepper reminded him.

“I know,” Tony nodded. “But that was when I wanted to focus all my time into being Iron Man. Now, I can finally put my business PhD to work.”

Pepper couldn’t really argue with that because it was all true. Tony handed over Stark Industries when he had a lot on his plate and he needed the help, but if Iron Man didn’t exist, Tony would’ve had no trouble handling the international conglomerate company by himself. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Tony questioned Pepper’s quick and easy agreement to his seemingly over ambitious plans. “That’s it?”

“Yeah, that’s it. You know I’ll support you in whatever you want to do, especially if it doesn’t involve self-sacrificial acts on a daily basis,” Pepper teased him slightly.

So, it was decided. Pepper would continue working with Stark Industries where she thrived and excelled while Tony would start a new company where he could invest into smaller businesses. Overall, it was a unanimous win-win.

“Okay, if we’re done talking about career choices,” Tony started. “I have something to ask you.”

“Go ahead,” Pepper nodded for him to continue.

“We’ve been married for a _year_ now, and that’s great and all because I love you and I can’t wait for the rest of our lives together and I’m glad we’re doing this and-” Tony began to ramble.

“Tony!” Pepper cut him off, knowing that if she didn’t stop him now, they’d be sitting there all night listening to him ramble on. “You’re rambling again.”

“Sorry,” Tony shook his head as if to shake away his nerves. “What I’m trying to say is, how do you feel about… starting a family?”

His question took Pepper by surprise, and for the seemingly longest moment, she sat there with her jaw dropped in pure, utter silence. Her expression made Tony nervous as he felt his heart beat a mile a minute, until finally, Pepper spoke.

“A family?” Pepper whispered in slight disbelief.

“Is that something you don’t want? Because if so, that’s fine…” Tony said, already sitting in fear of scaring Pepper off. “I know we’ve never talked about it, but I’d understand if it’s something you don’t want.”

“It’s not that I don’t want a family, Tony,” Pepper tried to explain.

“Is it me? It’s me, huh. I know I have some pretty problematic genes but I mean, I have some good stuff to pass down to like… like… I don’t know, I have…” Tony rambled again in worry.

“No, it’s not you. I want to have a family with you, Tony,” Pepper explained before Tony’s thoughts could travel any further. “I’m just… surprised that you want to have a family too.”

Tony looked up at Pepper with a small smile and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m a changed man, Pep. A decade ago, I never would’ve thought I’d be here saying this. But now? It’s honestly all I can really think about.”

Pepper sat in silence again, listening to Tony and letting all this new information sink in.

“I mean, I want to come home after working from nine to five and have dinner with you at the kitchen table with our children telling us about their day at school,” Tony smiled, his mind shifting from worry to happy daydreams. “I want to tuck them in and read them bedtime stories, I want to make them breakfast each morning and drive them to school, I want all that. And I want all that with _you_.”

Tony stared at Pepper as she sat beside him, trying to gauge her reaction, but for the first time in forever, he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Whatever this emotion Pepper was feeling right now was, it was new to the both of them.

“Tony,” Pepper said after another moment. “I… I don’t know what to say.”

“Please?” Tony asked her like a little boy in a candy store. “Please, Pepper. I know I have no right to ask you for more because you’ve done so much for me and you’ve already given me so much, but… please, can I ask you for our happy ever after?”

In Pepper’s mind, the answer was ‘yes’ since the moment he asked her. There was no hesitation, just pure shock that Tony was actually asking her for something she never thought he wanted. She always dreamed of having a family with Tony and now, she learned that he dreamed of the same thing and it was like having a weight lifted off her chest, knowing that she could breathe around him again because once again, they wanted the same thing.

“Yes,” Pepper replied in a hurry, the same way she accepted his marriage proposal years ago. “Yes, I want our happily ever after.”

Tony’s smile grew from ear to ear, a new light beaming off his entire persona. Even after all Pepper has done for him, she allowed him another wish. “Yes?” he asked, this time in his disbelief.

“Yes, let’s start a family together!” Pepper nodded, smiling widely and pulling Tony in for a hug. “Finally, it took you long enough,” she joked into her ear, feeling his body shake with a hearty laugh.

“I love you,” Tony said, kissing her neck softly as they held each other close.

“I love you too,” Pepper replied, happily resting on his shoulder and rubbing his back.

It took them ten years to admit their love for one another. It took him eight years to propose. It took them a year to get married. And it took them another year to finally admit their mutual excitement to begin their own family together. It may not have been said aloud, but there was a new agreement between the two of them made that day… Speak up now, because they might be thinking the _same thing_.

**

The excitement of starting a family together thrusted the couple into a new frenzy to do all the research they could about the best ways to successfully conceive.

However, after trying for six months, the excitement started to die down as their attempts only resulted in continued failures.

“I don’t get it,” Tony muttered in frustration after another failed pregnancy test. “Why is this so hard?” he added, obviously getting discouraged.

Pepper sighed, equally as exhausted from their failures. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “Maybe we should go see a doctor.”

So, they did and after a long, boring discussion with the doctor, they found out that their failed attempts weren’t because they were doing something wrong, but because Tony’s semen was no longer as fertile as it used to be.

“Mr. Stark,” the doctor began gently. “As you may or may not know, the female reproductive system has a sort of ‘lifespan’ in being that a female is only born with a certain amount of fertile eggs to reproduce before they become, for a lack of a better word, ‘sterile’.”

Tony and Pepper both nodded, listening intently to the doctor, holding hands under the table.

“Well, the male reproductive system is somewhat similar in a way,” the doctor continued. “The male can only produce a certain amount of fertile semen before they too become ‘sterile’.”

“You’re saying I’ve already output my share of fertile seed,” Tony asked bluntly, sounding a little annoyed with the doctor and upset with himself.

All the doctor could do in response was nod sadly. It wasn’t a secret that Tony had a very active sexual lifestyle back in the day, and now, his past was coming to bite him in the butt.

Tony looked down into his lap with a loud sigh, letting go of Pepper’s hand to bury his face in his palms. So many emotions were running through him right now, and it was all his fault.

“Is there anything we can do to boost his… fertility again?” Pepper asked the doctor hopefully.

“Unlike females, there’s not a lot we can do to help the male reproductive system react properly. All I can recommend is that you either try regularly and hope for the best or artificially inseminate with a donor,” the doctor said.

Immediately, Tony’s head popped up with a new sense of anger. “We are _not_ artificially inseminating anyone with some random guys genes!” he yelled, making the doctor recoil back.

“Tony, calm down,” Pepper placed her hand on his leg, trying not to get more upset either.

“I will not calm down, Pepper! This man is suggesting we put someone else’s baby in you and I won’t have it!” Tony yelled, looking between Pepper and the doctor angrily.

“We’re not going to do that, don’t worry!” Pepper told Tony sternly and confidently.

Tony took a few short breaths and fell back into his seat, trying to make himself to calm down. After a few long moments, Tony calmed down enough to sit back in his chair silently, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

“Thank you for your help, doctor,” Pepper said, standing up from her seat and pulling Tony with her. “But we’ll take our chances on our own.”

And with that, the couple left the doctor’s office with Pepper pulling Tony behind her. They were both filled with emotions; Pepper felt sad that Tony’s past had caught up with them, but she also felt pity for him, knowing how he must feel. Tony felt a flurry of emotions, but mostly he felt anger with himself for being such an idiot and discouraged that their dream was now further away than ever before.

That night, Pepper was getting ready for bed when she noticed Tony was not in their bedroom with her. It used to be a normal situation, but since they got married, Tony was always getting ready for bed at the same time Pepper did.

“Jarvis, where’s Tony?” Pepper asked, knowing the house’s AI always knew where everyone was.

“Mr. Stark is in his office, ma’am,” Jarvis responded instantly.

“In his office? What is he doing in his office?” Pepper continued to ask.

“I believe he is thinking, ma’am,” Jarvis replied again.

“What?” Pepper asked, confused about what she was hearing.

“Mr. Stark is currently sitting in his office chair, staring at the ceiling,” Jarvis explained.

It was then that Pepper realized exactly what Tony was doing. He wasn’t thinking, he was wallowing. With a soft sigh, Pepper pulled on her robe and made her way downstairs, navigating the hallways to Tony’s office.

The door was cracked open and she could barely see her husband doing exactly what Jarvis said he was, sitting in his chair and staring at the ceiling. She knocked softly before peaking her head inside, watching Tony suddenly scramble at her presence.

“Pepper?” Tony asked in surprise, trying to pretend like he was doing something. “What… What are you doing here?”

“I live here,” Pepper smirked, stepping into his office.

“Of course,” Tony shook his head, dropping the act of working and sighing loudly. “I mean…”

“I know,” Pepper said, moving over to sit on Tony’s lap. He naturally wrapped his arms around her to keep her steady, looking up at her with his big, brown puppy eyes. “It’s getting late. What are you still doing down here?”

“I was just… I was…” Tony tried to think of an excuse, but Pepper saw right through him.

“Thinking? Wallowing? Drowning in self-pity?” Pepper asked him, running her fingers through his hair slowly.

Tony sighed loudly, knowing all of those were true. “It’s my fault, Pep. It’s my fault we’re having such a hard time.”

“Listen to me, Tony,” Pepper said firmly, holding his chin gently so he couldn’t look away from her. “We both know you’ve had a more than conventional past, but you can’t let that stop you from living in the now.”

“But Pepper, it’s my fault that I’ve exhausted my… my fertility back in the day. It’s my fault and I don’t know what to do. I don’t want you to have someone else’s baby… I want you to have our baby,” Tony said, his voice and his expression falling in sadness.

“What? Why would I have someone else’s baby?” Pepper asked confused. “Is this because of what the doctor said earlier?”

“He said either we keep trying and keep failing, or you can get artificially-” Tony started, but was once again, cut off.

“Stop,” Pepper warned him. “Stop right there. First of all, I’m _not_ going to have anyone’s baby unless it’s ours, so get that out of your head right now. Second, we can and we _will_ keep trying, even if it means we fail a hundred times, all we need is to be successful once.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m already feeling discouraged,” Tony admitted openly.

“So am I,” Pepper agreed truthfully. “But who are we if we do anything the easy way? Huh? We’re Starks, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned about you and I over the past two decades, it’s that we never give up.”

Tony smiled at Pepper and finally felt some sense of relief in their situation. Sure, having a family wasn’t going to be as easy as they thought, but as long as they had each other, they’d make it no matter what.

“You really still love me, even after knowing my past has made our future _that_ much harder to reach?” Tony asked her.

“I still love you, even after knowing your entire life has probably shaved a good ten years off of my own, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Pepper replied with a slight tease.

The world’s biggest power couple were honestly stronger together than they ever were apart, superhero and business mogul included. And even if it meant they had to work five times as hard to get what they wanted, together, they wouldn’t give up.

**

A year and a half later, Tony’s investment business, Stark Enterprises, was booming with success. Tony had invested in a handful of small companies, helping them grow and become successful on their own. Now, Tony had a controlling equity in over eight different companies, each in different industries and his list of personal and business connections was growing around the retail world.

Both Tony and Pepper were racking in the money from their careers, and the success from both of them brought more fame than they had when Tony was a superhero. However, rather than paparazzi following them around, they had business magazines begging for their time and entrepreneurs on their hands and knees for advice.

As for their dreams on starting a family, their attempts remained unsuccessful. But they kept trying and they kept hope, encouraging one another through all the difficult times.

Until finally, on their third wedding anniversary, Pepper received good news and she was more than excited to share it with her husband.

Tony came home from work that Friday night, excited to take Pepper out to dinner for their anniversary. He made reservations for them at their favorite Italian restaurant, and he had a gift for her waiting in his briefcase.

“Honey, I’m home!” Tony called as he entered the front door. The little phrase became one of his favorites, so cliché and so normal, he loved it.

“I’m in the living room,” Pepper hollered back, finishing her preparations for her own gift to Tony that evening.

Tony waltzed into the living room, his beaming smile growing at the sight of his lovely wife. “I missed you,” he said as he stepped up to her, pulling her into a tight embrace.

“I missed you too,” Pepper chuckled. “Although, we did meet for lunch today.”

“Yeah, but meeting for lunch to talk about business investments isn’t the same as being at home with you,” Tony explained.

“Fair enough,” Pepper agreed, pulling away from Tony slightly to press a kiss on his lips.

Tony returned the kiss happily then pulled away from her. “Why aren’t you dressed? Our reservations are in an hour.”

“Yeah, about that…” Pepper started, stepping back from Tony towards the coffee table in the middle of the room.

“What’s wrong, Pepper?” Tony asked, eyeing Pepper curiously as she picked up a wrapped box and made her way back over to Tony, handing him his present.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Pepper assured him. “I just want to give you your gift first, then we’ll see about dinner. Happy anniversary,” she smiled. 

Tony raised an eyebrow, taking his gift. “Thank you,” he said, shifting his eyes down so he could focus on unwrapping his present. Once he got all the paper off, he opened the box and picked up the card lying on top of all the paper filler.

“Read it out loud,” Pepper requested, watching Tony’s every action.

“Tony,” Tony started to read off the card. “Our lives have never been easy, but I think it’s about time we get that happily ever after we’ve been dreaming of.”

Utterly confused, Tony set the card down on the back of the couch beside him and continued unwrapping his present. Finally, he found a smaller box inside and pulled it out, placing everything else on the couch.

“Read the top too,” Pepper requested again, the smile growing on her face as she watched Tony.

“You better start working on that… _nursery_?” Tony read, almost in disbelief as he looked up at Pepper. “What?”

“Open it,” Pepper nodded, motioning for Tony to finish unwrapping his gift.

Tony pulled the top off the small box and found a pregnancy test inside, and lone and behold, it was positive.

“Pepper,” Tony asked in a surprised whisper. “Is this… Are you…?”

Pepper laughed softly as happy tears started to fall from her eyes. She nodded quickly in confirmation, smiling widely. “Yes, Tony, I’m pregnant.”

In his entire life, Anthony Edward Stark never felt more excited to hear those four words.

The millisecond after Pepper confirmed it with Tony, the room exploded with the sound of pure happiness. Tony dropped his present onto the ground as he flew into Pepper’s arms, wrapping her into a tight hug and burying his face into the crook of her neck, kissing her soft skin a million times. Pepper smiled and held onto Tony, one hand rubbing his back soothingly and the other hand running through his hair. Both of them were crying with tears of joy.

“Oh God,” Tony breathed, letting out a deep breath of relief. “Thank you. I love you so much.”

“We love you too,” Pepper replied, changing her response from ‘I’ to ‘we’ for the first time. There was something about it, something so simple as changing the pronoun of her response, the lit a fire inside her and Tony, warming their hearts and filling their stomachs with butterflies.

Finally, after over two decades, it was all happening.

Tony slowly sunk to his knees in front of Pepper, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his head against her flat stomach. He hugged her from his new position as Pepper’s hands both moved to his hair, playing with the soft, brown locks.

There were no words exchanged, but neither of them needed words to know exactly how amazing this moment felt. Tony pressed a soft kiss to Pepper’s stomach, letting it all sink in.

There was never a moment that Pepper doubted Tony would be an amazing father. And there was never a single second that Tony didn’t think Pepper would be the perfect mother. But now, in that moment with Tony on the floor and Pepper crying tears of joy, they both knew they were ready to be parents… together.

The End...?

 

 


End file.
